Equal protection under the law.....

Alright here's the scenario

Someone shoots a prostitute where prostitution is legal


Someone shoots a cop

Cases are identical except for the victim...

now in reality (not asking what should happen, asking what would happen in the real world...)

Who's going to get the heftier punishment

The whore killer

or the cop killer

or both equally

please also state why you think your answer is he one that is accurate (in reality) and what should happen.......

 

hehe

Good question. I believe both people are equally important and worthy of life. Also the question doesn't provide enough detail, like motive, premeditation, reputation and past actions of the killer for me to give a fair answer. But lets asssume both situations are similar - 2 killers each deciding to kill a random person, one chooses a hooker and the other a cop.

I think the person who shoots the cop should receive the harsher punishment. My reasoning? One person is in a respected position in society where the other could be considered part of the underbelly. Not to say I personally think one or the other has more worth, but if a person is willing to kill those generally considered to be more respected in society they could surely be more likely to be a danger to those who are unrespected or unappreciated as well.

But really, one needs to hear the case in order to judge appropriatly. There is too many variables. But I understand the debate you are trying to have here. Is the cop "worth" more than the hooker? There is no objective answer to that. Personally, I don't think so.

 

I think homocide is homocide no matter who you kill.

 

The cases are identical except for the victim, I apoligize for not making that clear

 

I'm trying not to affect the results of this at all so I'm not adding anything, I'm just bumping it....

 

Equally.

 

I didn't notice the hypothetical question.
I thought it was asking how SHOULD it be.

 

Equal.

A man is just a man.

 

i personally think they should get the same punishment. however - in the real world - the person who shot the cop would get a much harsher sentence. in the laws eyes whores are disposable but cops (good or bad) should countinue on living their happy little lives.

 

I have to agree with this. I'm not saying that a prostitute is of lesser value, cause I don't see prostitution as a CRIME. But not all life is equal. It's a very hard thing to judge, but if one person needs to die, is it going to be the (straight) cop, of the homocidal maniac?

 

The question is not who SHOULD but who WILL

The cop killer. The cops will start the "punishment" the moment they get the guy in the squad car. His injuries, yer honor, are consistent with him falling down the stairs as opposed to being smashed face first into a Pepsi machine, repeatedly.

As for who should, as for the cop, enh, anyone who takes on that kind of job isn't a human being to begin with, so I'll say the guy who killed the hooker should go down for a longer sentence.

 

I am assuming that both victims are in their working uniforms. A secondary assumption is that the killing was not personal. For example, it was not a jealous husband shooting his wife's lover, who happened to be a cop.

Reality - most states recognise cop killing as a special case and harsher penalties are written into the law. For example, in many death penalty states, murdering a cop is a "special circumstance" that permits the death penalty.

I have heard two reasons for this. First, a person who is willing to shoot a cop is willing to shoot someone else. That person is more dangerous to society than the common killer.

Second reason, the cop represents all of us. By killing a cop, the bad guy is attacking all of us.

One reason that I have not heard is that if society asks the cop to take special risks, we owe them special protection.

Please note that none of this related to the profession of the non-cop.